Chapter 136

“…The human who gave birth to this ‘body’ is someone I don’t even know well, but as I went through life, I ended up with a grandfather I never expected and an older sister too. And then there’s this foolish robot who chimes in to keep me company so I’m not bored…”

“Ah…”

I didn’t know if my considerate answer had passed or not.

But seeing Kên nodding along with a subtle gasp, it seemed like they understood it in some way.

Still, given that the intonation and atmosphere leaned toward a relatively positive interpretation, even if it could sound playful at first, it seemed like they recognized that it was a statement filled with sincerity on my part.

…It might sound harsh, but honestly, if there was a willing mindset to take in genuine talk, the process didn’t matter much. It was also true that I had initiated this conversation somewhat calculatively.

The work had already stopped, but my hands, which had been hesitating near the keyboard, had shyly gathered near my knees.

Fidgeting. I wonder why even moving my fingers alone serves as an indicator of my personality.

“I was born into a sort of orphaned situation. Ah, I definitely didn’t bring this up to gain sympathy! Amongst orphans, I was on the better side as…”

“Hmm…? Huh?”

I couldn’t grasp how being sort of an orphan compared to being a true abandoned child offered any real advantages, but as I was mindlessly agreeing, I felt something odd.

There was no reason to start with a lie, after all. While I might casually call them whatever now, didn’t they have a proper full name when they were introduced initially?

“…So what’s your family name? Did you come up with it yourself?”

It made sense that just having a name alone feels insufficient and could be unhelpful for contracts or identity verification.

Thinking back to the days I spent creating a plausible title for Zero with great effort, I figured they must have been through something similar since childhood and gave their computer a nickname like Orihime… before I moved on.

But that didn’t seem to be the case.

“Ah!? It’s not that…! I’ve heard that in other Metropolises, it’s a bit less so, but Holtz Colony has been actively supporting the Colonial Memories project for a long time, so the cost of requesting external artificial fertilization is significantly discounted.”

“What? That’s quite a good idea… But why?”

Paradise, which spreads citizenship to wastelanders for a fee, is trying to boost the population, while the colony city is implementing systematic and long-term childbirth encouragement policies.

It’s difficult for an ordinary citizen to judge which approach is superior.

All the same, even if hidden motives don’t necessarily indicate good intentions, seeing the ruling class working hard on civil reconstruction was quite gratifying.

My apathetic inquiry was rendered meaningless as the answer sheet came back graded with a stiff neck.

“…Yeah, well. Either the fact that it was too cheap raised suspicions about the outcome, or maybe it was a decision made under the influence of alcohol, or perhaps it was just that my parents changed their minds while I was growing up in the incubator. But my parents never came to find me after only putting down the initiation fee.”

“Uh…?”

It was a bitter smile, but I wondered how long it must have taken for them to say that with a laugh.

Is human malice something we should underestimate, thinking it only happens among highly regarded individuals?

Two hundred years have passed, heightening the ceiling of human society and life, yet it seems a deep and dark abyss was dug beneath it.

“Thus, the only things left are the name given at birth and my family name, which are now simply listed among the common project byproducts—Lost Child. I received some basic order education… and they just grew my body a bit with nutritional supplements and growth enhancers before shipping me out. Meanwhile, the payments for the drugs remained as debt piled high.”

“Fortunately, the large body from the medication doesn’t feel much hunger as long as calories are met, so I survived by picking up empty bottles and returning them, while also saving credits as I learned to take the aptitude test, and then suddenly, I had talents that made worrying about living unnecessary!”

Kên shrugged his shoulders with exaggerated movements as if to ventilate the gloomy atmosphere.

Now that I think about it, I thought I couldn’t hear Marina’s humming due to my intense focus, but it seems she was completely absent, showing no interest in elaborating on such topics.

This made the responsibility of lighting the fuse even heavier…

“…Sorry, that must have been tough.”

He started with the caveat that he didn’t bring it up to gain sympathy, but ironically, what I could offer were nothing but cheap sympathy or empathy.

Suddenly, I had the thought that perhaps someone who had vanished might have foreseen such things and maintained a safe distance.

“…No. At that time, I actually had no regrets. While my debt did increase due to studying, just having a brain structure that was favorable for engineering brought a lot of benefits.”

‘Oh…?’

That’s some pretty good information.

It’s like valuing an investment. Even though the engineer category was still preliminary, loans were given solely based on future profitability, so I should definitely make use of it when looking for a house later.

If viewed as debt, it might feel uncomfortable, but if seen as a kind of student loan… it still feels pretty annoying still. Damn.

“So, I studied hard, officially registered with the association, and managed to gain practical experience. But when I actually became greedy and tried to enter a well-known company, family members I had never even seen before started to hold me back?”

“……Why? Did they want money sent?”

I racked my brain, referencing 21st-century entertainment articles to craft the most plausible scenario, but alas, my guesses were off the mark.

The little one, hearing this perfectly rational deduction, thought I was recounting my experiences and chuckled softly.

“To get into a decent mega-corp, skill is important, but they say background needs to be clear even more so? Security regulations, I believe… Ah, you probably know that better, Miss. Anyway, just having close relatives or direct descendants who are criminals or wanted is a disqualifying factor—but it happened to be exactly that.”

“Um… Is that so?”

Stuck by inherent limits, I felt a certain familiarity with the ‘kind’ that couldn’t get into mega-corp positions.

It seemed that an irresponsible person who wasn’t even present had blurted out personal information not long ago, allowing him to make an empathy connection freely. I awkwardly managed my gaze to respond instead.

Moreover… if this is true, then that jerk Aaron just disregarded the basic procedures and randomly sent me love calls. What kind of lunatic is that? Just because he’s a high-ranking executive doesn’t mean he gets to act that way!

“…But still, it’s not bad. Even if I officially didn’t qualify for employment, I feel like I’m recognized for my skills by being entrusted with these kinds of requests.”

Up to this point. While he seemed to have sorted out various tangled emotions, Kên wore an expression markedly different from the awkward laughter until now. It was comforting enough to put others at ease.

If anything, I felt fortunate, and I envied his disposition to push forward while being tied down by the past.

I, on the other hand, am just a person full of regrets, obsessing over the things I’ve lost despite having a wealth of new abilities and connections, fixating on the insane goal of dimension shifting.

“If it’s alright, could you share a bit about your situation…?” “Ah, sorry. That’s a secret.” …Ehh.

I was nearly plunged into a deep gloom, but ultimately it turned into a nice mood-lifting moment. More accurately, it served as a motivation to strive.

In the end, Kên concluded that it seemed safe to relax.

As much as he knew how important money was, understanding the potential risks, there was a steady income and clear pride, making it seem unlikely that simple material temptations could sway him.

Of course, that meant I shouldn’t give him any reasons to be held, so I should simply ramp up the workload and enforce stricter inspections.

…If necessary, I’d even plant a backdoor program on the precious computer he cherishes.

With vague words like ‘No…’ and ‘Um…,’ I waved my hand to convey the meaning of discussing it later and returned to my designated seat, grabbing the server I had been working on earlier.

“For now… should I try tripling Marina’s workload?”

I intended to ask her, before she returned, about the grievance and started preparing two servers for homework.

However, everything in this world seems to be a matter of cause and effect. I never imagined that the price for probing into someone else’s personal history purely out of curiosity and need would come back in such a manner.

[ Server data preprocessing failure. Access through an abnormal pathway. ]

[ Unauthorized subroutine removal in progress…. Fatal error in data mining persistence occurred. ]

“…? What’s this?”

A system message completely different from usual popped up.

The tactile sensation was different too. It felt as though a large fish was violently pulling on the fishing hook.

Even if it wasn’t a surge of power, it was almost the first time the released energy met with strong resistance and bounced back slightly.

I had received briefings when we each got a working ID containing temporary admin privileges from the secretary who oversaw the contract on the first day.

In such cases, I was instructed not to arbitrarily review and check whether the restoration was done correctly but to work only to the extent I could and report in detail to higher-ups about the materials, including which DB and pathway they came from.

That implies these must be essential research materials, so I feel like I must take a little peek.

“Let’s see….”

I raise the output at least one level, generously two levels.

Instead of merely digging through a ruined field, I excavate the bulk of data, conducting meticulous excavation work based on the outlines of displayed artifacts.

I brush away unnecessary dirt and pull out the shattered fragments, trying to fit them together in various ways.

There are countless strings of characters and image files, and included attachments seem to contain an overwhelming number of videos… What type of experiment were they conducting that there are security footage from outside the laboratory instead of just inside the sealed lab?

Tap…!

As I pop open a file with my fingers, a surprisingly short monodrama begins to play instead of what I expected.

I see an empty desert in the middle of nowhere… The screen shakes for a moment, and suddenly a person emerges out of thin air, only to be intercepted and brutally dismembered by an automated turret that detects intruders in the area.

Although the head miraculously remains intact, there’s no need to look more closely; it’s instant death.

This stinks of unpleasantness, as there’s no narrative or background—just a person dying in an instant.

However, if the actor featured is a confused individual who cannot grasp where he has wandered into, combined with the worn-out clothes from too many wears at home and a nostalgic-looking Korean man’s face, it becomes an entirely different story.

– Ahsa…? Heart rate and blood pressure are excessively… Anastasia! –

A bitter taste fills my mouth. A chill runs down my spine.

Screams turn into cries of despair, and shock morphs into a hatred that burns away my sanity.

Here, I will absolutely resolve a crucial question.

“…Don’t joke with me.”

I am. Here.

Then, just who the hell are you?